A Reactor for Converting Gaseous Carbon-Containing Reactants to Solid Carbon Product and Associated Methods

A method of producing carbon nanofibers using a reaction assembly including an inlet, an outlet, an elongate vessel defining a reaction chamber in fluid communication with the inlet and the outlet, one or more planar supports within the reaction chamber, the one or more planar supports having surfaces for supporting a solid catalyst, and being mounted transversely to, and forming a series of spaced-apart barriers along, an elongate axis of the vessel, and a conduit positioned within the reaction chamber and connected to the inlet or the outlet, the conduit comprising conduit openings positioned between successive barriers, such that gas flow from the inlet to the outlet causes gas to flow through the conduit and through the reaction chamber along the support surfaces between successive barriers, the method comprising cycling between the following stages:

• a seeding stage comprising catalyst particulates are injected into the reaction chamber, affixed to the support surfaces and then activated;
• a growth stage in which gaseous reactants are flowed through the reaction chamber over the catalyst support surfaces to be converted into the carbon nanofibers;
• and
• a harvesting stage in which a harvesting fluid is flowed through the reaction chamber to remove the grown carbon nanofibers from the catalyst support surfaces and to extract the removed carbon nanofibers from the reaction chamber.